New York Islanders General Manager Mathieu Darche Pregame Availability | NYI vs BOS

New York Islanders General Manager Mathieu Darche Pregame Availability | NYI vs BOS

just how do you evaluate this team so far? Uh listen, we’ve we what I’ve like is the way we’ve progressed from the start. Uh uh our defensive game has really improved the last few weeks. You saw in the trip like at the beginning of the year we changed the system. So there was some adjustment from a lot of players. I thought we turned pucks over a lot at the start which we’ve been we’ve been a lot better. I think against Seattle we gave up eight or nine scoring chances which when you do that more often than not you’ll win games. It took a while to win it because we had to go to shootout, but I like the way we’re progressing. There’s still work to do. I like the confidence of our players right now. And it’s it’s a tough league, right? We uh if you look at the start of December coming up after those three games here. We have uh I think we’re playing at Tampa, Colorado, Tampa, Florida, Vegas, Anaheim, Tampa. So that’s uh but we’ve done a great job in the last trip, but we we are taking it one game at a time. You know, we’re focused on Boston tonight and we’re we’re we’re trending in the right direction, which is nice to see. And I like the vibe around our team. The players, they you know, Patrick talked about joy and and you can see there’s joy the way they’re playing. They believe every game we have a chance to win whether we’re down or not. You know, we even some games, you look at the St. Louis game, might not have been our best game, but we push in a third, we give oursel a chance to tie it up. Unfortunately, we didn’t. So there’s no uh no games that the guys don’t feel they can win, which is a great mentality to have. Sorry. What do you just make of the the power play? I know obviously statistically it’s dead last, but it it looks dangerous is what you think. Yeah, like I mean if you look on the uh I mean everybody’s got different expected goals data, but from what I look at like we’re we’re I’m not saying we’re top five, but we’re still around the 10 to 15. So we’re just it hasn’t gone in. And uh the good thing it doesn’t kill the momentum in games because I think we have chances but in the day we’re in a resultoriented business. So we’ll have to score goals eventually which you know that St. Louis game is the best example. Six on four would have been a perfect time. You score there you you start the overtime on the power play. So uh uh it’s a work in progress but I I think we we get in the zone great. We rarely like it doesn’t happen very often that you know you spend the whole two minutes going in the zone coming in your zone back and forth. So I think the goals will come. We just have to trust the process. We’re doing a lot of good things. Uh by the end of the day, of course, we we can say all we want. We have great chances. We’ll have to score. But I I’d be more worried if we we struggle like we’re we’re we’re we’re gaining entry. We’re creating chances. We’re moving the puck well. So, uh you hope that regression regression comes at one point. Injuries obviously are are a part of any season, right? How comfortable are you where you are with the organizational depth to to withstand those kind of injuries and at one point do you start to think that you might have to look outside the uh the organization? Well, I I constantly look at ways to improve the team whether it’s from within or looking at opportunities outside. My job is to always, you know, I’m on the phone all the time. You’re you’re just listening to what’s going on out there. uh right now like the way we’ve played even on this trip the last uh you know G Romy’s missed the last three games we won two out of three and uh he’s missed time at the beginning of the year also so there’s there’s players that step up played pretty well in the last few games and you know we when Marshall Warren played he played well and now Mitchell’s here uh probably won’t be in tonight but if there’s an opportunity so I’m I I’m I’m very comfortable with giving the guys we have a chance but My job is to always look and if we have options to improve the team, I’ll do it. But there’s always a cost to anything you do. So, uh I think especially at forwards right now, we’ve had two forwards out every game. So yeah, we have injuries right now, but I’ll know knock on wood a bit, but uh we’ve been fairly when you look at other teams, if I look even my former team that we’re going to play a lot, like they if you look at their they’re losing their they they’ve played the last two weeks were basically their best 3Ds out and they’ve won some games. So it’s a next man up mentality. The the way the schedule is this season with the Olympics and where the trade deadline is, do you think the condensed nature of the schedule is going to alter the flow of trades heading into the trade deadline. Could they come maybe before, you know, some bigger trades before the the Olympic break? Well, even if you look the last few years, there’s a lot of trades that happen earlier, too, because you give more time for it. It’s it doesn’t matter who you are. I mean, I’ve experienced because we’ve made a lot of trade in Tampa during those years. It takes a a few weeks usually for the player to get settled in. He comes in new environment, new coach, new system. So when you’re able to, you’d like to do something earlier rather than later, which is not always the case because the teams that’s trading a player, they’re they want to wait it out to get the best they can. Uh I think the main thing about the condensed schedule is probably a little bit on the injury front you see around the league. Um but uh again, it’s it’s I think what makes it a bit tougher right now too is there’s a lot of teams that are still in it. Like it’s it’s so tight everywhere. like other years sometimes even you get to Thanksgiving early December you have teams that all right mathematically of course they’re still there this time of year but you’re looking at it you’re like well you know it’s going to be tough and this year I mean for the longest time in the Eastern Conference you’d win two games you end up in second place and you lose two you were in last place in the conference so I think there’s too many teams that are still in it right now that it’s it’s fairly quiet any any more clarity on Pio in in terms of where he is pou like we we expect him to play before Christmas like uh so uh it’s when we say week to week it’s cuz it’s longer than day to day but it’s not month to month either so we’ll see how it progresses but uh I would suspect two to three weeks at the most if not sooner so uh there’s nothing concerning on that uh that aspect there’s no surgery needed there’s no anything it’s just healing all injuries so is there anything on on Vley like is he expected out for the year at this point or it’s honestly it’s a I’m going sound like I I don’t have an answer, but like it’s it’s it’s uh the same as it’s been the last time. He’s progressing. I mean, I saw you saw this morning on Fury earlier, like he’s taking some shots from the goalie coach, but very controlled. So, we you know, the thing I’ll give Vley is he’s he’s doing every effort to have no regret at the end. And it’s it’s it’s a big rehab, so he’s taking the time he’s needing and uh we’re giving all the help he can get and we’ll see where it goes because right now I don’t have a time frame. It’s just a he’s going through the rehab as it’s tolerated and we’ll see where he goes with him and I I guess with Romanov too because his timeline is maybe a little uncertain as it relates to the end of the season. Like how does that affect how aggressive you can be, you know, going into LTI, the way the rules have changed this year? Well, it’s more the playoff cap rule that changes because during the season we have plenty of cap room right now because we, you know, we only have Angvall on LTI, but there’s a few other guys that we can put on LTI. Uh, and all these guys will clear the 10 days, 24 the 10 games, 24 days. So, that’s not an issue, but we have to make sure for the playoffs, uh, there’s um, we have that flexibility because now in the playoffs, a difference, it’s only 20 players instead of 23. So, uh, but we’re planning. I mean, every time we do something, the numbers when you have a salary cap, the numbers play into the decisions you make. But, uh, I I think we have fairly good flexibility right now. Cal Richie has been called up. What have you seen from how he’s been able to settle into the league and also develop his defensive game? Well, I think, you know, from the start, uh, maybe it was a lot to give him on the second line right away. We just wanted to see it and then, uh, we switched the lines. We’re going well. He was doing a great job on the front line defensively. Like I that’s what I’ve been impressed as a as a young guy sometimes they struggle defensively. He’s really helped our fourth line defensively and now you’ve seen over the last uh three four games the offense is starting to come which is great to see. He seemed to have developed uh pretty good uh chemistry with uh with Shabi uh and they’re playing well right now and now he has an opportunity while PJO’s out to play a few more meaningful minutes. I think he’s I would say the last week to two weeks is really where he took the step and uh he’s contributing even more. So, we’re happy with his progress. What have you seen from Patrick Wah so far this season? And how would you I guess characterize your relationship I guess through these first couple of months? Well, it’s been great. We communicate constantly like we’re on the same page and how we want to play. Uh communicating with players. We we talk every single day. Even on a day off, we’ll uh we’ll get on the phone and chat. So, it’s been great. And I I you know I didn’t know much about Patrick about before working with him but you can see his passion. I mean you saw his passion in Dallas uh uh which and you know and it was genuine. He was he was mad and as we all are like I mean we lost a player for the regular season which is it’s tough for us but uh uh I think he’s done a great job. Uh it’s uh it’s funny. One of the piece of advice I got from my my previous boss is, you know, when you get this job, you need to be able to be on the same page as your coach. If you’re not on the same page as your coach, it’s very tough for it to work. And Patrick and I are definitely on the same page. And from our discussions over the summer and how we feel we want to play and what we feel about the lineup and we talk about the lineup every day. At the end of the day, coaches, coach, managers, manage. I want him to coach, but he takes my opinion and he makes his decisions and uh it’s great that we’re on the same page. Where are you as far as like building out the analytics department or other sort of parts of the organization? I know you made some hires there, but like like how close are you to where you want to be with with that? Well, I think it’s going to take a little bit of time to get to where I feel we should be. Uh but we’re already we’ve made big strides uh in the last few months. was starting to get some some data that listen there’s some of the people we hired uh I always joke that you know they’re smart when they don’t put their undergrad on their resume they only put their masters and their PhDs so they’re a lot smarter than me uh they’re math people and um so we’re building out the department where we have a good chunk of data now but it’s it’s a big undertaking to uh to modernize that part so we’re um we’re moving forward with it and um it’s going to take a few months But uh we that’s why we’re hiring people. We’re going to hire someone else soon. We’re up to about four or five full-time people now. And uh but it’s it’s a big undertaking cuz there’s a lot of data especially when you incorporate the puck and player tracking that the NHL gives. That’s you know it’s a huge file of data that you want to and you know building your own models and things like that. So uh but we have great people working on it and uh I always joke that they’re a lot smarter than I am and uh I tell them what I want but how they do it. Uh that’s uh that’s a math that are above what I studied in college. So uh I let them do that. Hey, we we we’ve chatted about this, but just on the record, how important was it and what was the process like for Patrick to be comfortable and and hire his own assistant coaches, which is I know is something you wanted him to be able to do. Yeah, for sure. For where I came from, that’s what I saw. We we’ve you know where I came from the team has had coaches come and go and you know you you’re involved with the coach in the in the surge to me he’s like he’s the head I mean he’s the head coach or he runs that that coaching department so he has to be comfortable with who he wants to work with uh like I I always say like uh you know we’re going to come up with a list together you decide I’m only have the veto of saying no on someone if I because I do my due diligence too if I hear some red flags somewhere But besides that, I want him to be comfortable with the people he’s working with. And Ray and uh and and Boogie have been great additions uh personalitywise uh skill-wise. So, um I think Patrick’s really comfortable working with them. So in terms of the international competition, is the Islanders I’m not trying to put words in your mouth, but does this organization want any player who gets the opportunity to have a chance to play internationally, be it the Olympics or maybe even the World Juniors coming up of Well, yeah, Matthew Schaefer is not going to work Junior. I’ll tell you that much. Uh but yeah, of course, it’s an opportunity. Like I would never restrict a player from repres representing their country. It’s it’s an honor, especially at the Olympics now. It’s been since 2014. It’s been over 10 years that we the NHL hasn’t been in the Olympics. And those players, they’ve gone most of them, they they weren’t most of the players in the league weren’t playing pro yet the last time we went to the Olympics for most of the players, especially on our team. So, it’s an awesome opportunity for them. And you know what? they they let’s say of course I’m Canadian I’ll talk about team Canada but you go and spend time uh with you know the guys like Sydney Crosby and guys like that you can only grow as an athlete as a player so it’s a great opportunity for any player and it’s it’s great for our team it’s great for uh and you know to play in those competitive environments can only help them when they come back to the NHL after where do you feel like where do you feel like Schaefer should be in those discussions that’s not for me to to answer there’s uh I’m not part of the management group. I mean, we we talked with them, but I you know what, at the end of the day, you saw the news that they’ve added him to the testing and he’s deserved it. It has nothing to do because he’s he’s always Matthew Schaefer is the first pick is the way he’s played. Like, everybody around the league has been extremely impressed the way he’s played offensively and defensively. Like, we always talk about the flash of the skating and all that, but the reality is to be able to play on those teams, you got to be able to defend because you play the US, a great team, you play Sweden, so you got to be able to play that way. And the reason he’s put himself in the conversation is because of his place. So he he should be very proud at 18 years old that at at the minimum he’s in the conversation. And now they have a probably another month or five weeks before they named teams. And we’ll see what happens. What gave you the confidence that David Riddick could bounce back after a tough year in LA when you guys signed him? Well, I mean, we we’ve seen the year before. His numbers were great in LA. He’s had good moments in Calgary. and uh when you’re looking for a a goalie and obviously you have the cap and all that like we we fell with his experience and he’s got a big personality which is great. He brings life to the room. Uh, and he’s played I mean he’s got the nickname Big Safe Dave. So, he’s he’s done quite a few of those. So, we’ve been extremely happy. He’s giving us a chance to win every game he’s been in that. So, he’s it’s you know our both our goalies right now are playing outstanding every single game we feel we have a chance to win. So, with the workload that Sroken’s had the last couple years, how important is it that Riddick can be relied upon the way he has been? Well, for sure. But I mean some goalies can you know they some goalies want to I mean you won’t see any more goalies playing 70 72 games like Marty Berd and guys like that like it’s not going to happen. The game is too demanding right now. Uh so the more especially with a condensed schedule now a lot more backtoback. So there’s 16 back to back. So right there you know there’s 16 games that you rarely put your same goalie two games in a row. And it it he it gives us so much confidence that all right we want to we know relax Sroi’s uh workload but we know we have a chance to win with and sometimes if if your backup is is struggling you’re like well you know we know he needs a break but it’s going to be a tough game right now like whether Sro’s in net or Dave is in net like we feel very confident confident before the game starts. What’s amazing the most about Bo Horvette, his start? And again, not that you make these decisions, but do you think that’s somebody who maybe deserves Olympic consideration? Well, I mean, I definitely he deserves consideration and and and I’m sure he is. Uh Bose’s uh big strength to join these teams is he can play everywhere up and down the lineup. He can play center, he can play wing, he’s uh he’s 61, but he’s 225, so he brings some size. He’s he’s he’s top 10 in faceoffs, which he can’t play on a penalty kill. Like a lot of times people think those those Olympic teams are all-star teams that you want to build a team and you saw it last year with Canada with the Hegels, the Cellis, the Bennett, and uh you know, every team has those type of uh I’m talking about more about Canada just to tease Kimber, but uh uh you need to build a team. So, and Bo can play up and down the lineup, which is a huge asset for him. So, he’s having a great start. ‘s been our offensive leader uh so far and the leadership is outstanding. So I I hope he gets an opportunity. You’ve made it a point to watch a lot of your prospects play in person, not just in Bridgeport, but also Danny Nelson and Notre Dame. What does that in-person element add? Of course, you talk to scouts and staff, but to see them in person, what does that do? Well, just for me to get my own view on them. We watch them online, uh but it’s different than watching them in person. And it’s just to show them that, hey, we’re watching. We’re and you know, college players, they could decide to play four years and go somewhere else. So, you build a relationship with them. Uh, so I try to see almost everyone, especially in North America, almost every one of our drafted prospect at least once. So, I time it during our trips. You know, I’ve been to Barry this year. I’ve been to Notre Dame. Uh, Saturday, we have three of our prospects playing at MSG with Cornell and BEu. So, I’ll be there. And, uh, it’s just to get a feel of how they play. You talk to their coach after you talk to them, you build a relationship with them, which is great. So you get a better sense of what’s coming. So when you plan your team for next year, but you see what’s coming and you get an idea, well, what do you feel they are in their development? Are they ready to step in? Do they need time in the AHL? So uh you know, you try to watch them multiple times. Rely on our player development people and our scouts, but it’s it’s it’s good to be there in person. Also, back off that I know Cole Eisman dealt with an injury and and he’s back. He’s probably going to play on Saturday. What what kind of scouting reports have you gotten on where he is in his recovery and and his play this season? Well, I was told that he’s he’s he’s doing fine. Actually, when we played in Boston, he came to the game with his agent, so we chatted with him after. And he had an injury that seemed to be healed. Right now is he he played last weekend. First weekend’s always a challenge when you when you when you come back. But I’m looking forward to seeing him Saturday. We know Cole is a he’s a goal scorer. You know, that’s something you can’t teach. Like any player, there’s things everybody needs to work on, but he’s got a skill that’s tough to teach, and that’s scoring goals. So, we’re excited to have him. Do you do you Yeah, I was going to say, did does that injury delay the timeline for bringing him into the organization at all? No, cuz look, he’s back playing. It was just like a few weeks of uh of uh like I’m sure a bunch of our prospects will have injuries during the season. So, there’s nothing u it’s not like a surgery like Romy does that he’s out five, six months, he miss two, three weeks. So, it’s just we’ll see. We’ll see how he is at the end of the year. Do you the way he plays? He’s a goal scorer, right? And he told us the day he was drafted, I’m a different kind of player. How uh you know, how much of that can there be coming into the NHL? And how much flexibility does there need to be on Cole’s part to learn to be a complete NHL player? Well, I mean, every young kid when they come in, like even Matthew when he came in, there’s things he had to learn and there’s things everybody when you’re 30 years old, there’s still things you’re learning. I always use the line, my mom used to to say is the day you stop trying to improve is the day you start regressing, right? So, everybody has and at the end of the day, you know, we when you guys ask me before the season what my expectations were Matthew Schaefer, I said his play will dictate where he plays. And it’s the same thing with Cole. when he comes in and he plays pro games, how he plays, how he reacts to those because we can we can project how we feel they’re gonna play pro, but until they actually play, you never know. Some adjust way better than you thought and some of them well, you know, it’s it’s it’s a longer learning curve. So, we’ll see when he turns pro how he uh how he um he adapts to the pro

New York Islanders General Manager Mathieu Darche addressed the media this morning.